Heirs of Ruin
by Ellwyn
Summary: It's Harry Potter's 6th year at Hogwarts and the year is off to a start. A new, very strange girl has come to Hogwarts, and she's making friends with...Malfoy?! Truths and an odd heritage are discovered about the true heirs of the houses. Please R&R :)


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Heirs of Ruin: Chapter One

Old Fears and New Beginnings

The forest house was surrounded by hundreds of thick, leafy trees that bent and swayed with every breath of the wind. The house stood completely alone, as though beckoning to someone, something to set foot inside and marvel at the untouched ephemeral beauty of the house and of the lush forest that encased it. It stood completely silent, as though waiting eagerly for the moment when the leaves of the trees would transform from a yearling golden-yellow to a full green. Then the school year ended, and its inhabitants returned to stay for the several months in which the green leaves never faded. 

However, this was only the start of the school year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and the family had departed ere the fall of night. The sun dropped, night fell, and the time of the forest house was brought to a standstill, as it would remain for the three coming seasons.

*****

"Harry!" a voice called his name from behind a large stack of suitcases. The young, green-eyed boy turned in the direction of the voice, a lightning bolt of a line running across his forehead barely visible behind his dark tousled hair. He suddenly grinned when a tall, copper-headed boy peeked out from behind the suitcases. "Oi, Harry, been wondering when you'd get here!" 

"Fred! What're you doing here? Didn't you graduate…"

"Just dropping wee Ron off, mum's busy with the gnomes in the garden—there's been some sudden infestation of 'em—and dad's got business with the Ministry. _Top secret _business. Tomorrow we're gettin' off to Hogsmeade to see if we can make a couple galleons at Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes." 

Harry raised an eyebrow. "You're really going to start that…"

Another boy peeked out from the other side, almost completely identical in appearance, and yelled at the top of his lungs, "Of course we are! Nothing left to do now that school's all done and over…course, Fred's been rather busy lately with Angelina and all…Ron! Where are ya, you lil' scat?! Harry Potter's here!" 

Harry cringed at the sound of his infamous name, preparing for the entire crowd of young wizards with their parents to stare at him, gawk and poke at his lightning shaped scar. But only a couple of the younger students turned their heads to stare momentarily. Apparently the wizarding world had grown accustomed to the presence of the young wizard boy who was the only human to escape the clutches of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. He visibly relaxed and then grinned when Ron came running from the other side of the train station.

"Harry!" Ron skidded to a halt and nearly hugged Harry but thought better of it after shooting a wary glance at the smirking twins. Instead, he clapped him on the back and grinned. 

Harry merely laughed, though he noticed that Ron was a bit more flushed in the face than usual. "Er, Ron, what's going on?"

"What do you mean?" Ron asked, looking baffled.

"He means, why d'you look so red!" Fred chimed in, grinning from ear to ear.

"Oh…" Ron blushed, then replied timidly, "It's, uh…Hermione looks different."

That was all that Harry could coax out of his embarrassed friend before a playful and cheery voice said in his ear, "'Lo, Harry, what have you been up to this summer? No doubt poking fun at that dreadful cousin of yours…"

Harry managed a weak smile, attempting none too successfully to hide his astonishment at the sudden change in Hermione's appearance. Her hair was pulled back in French braids and she was smiling rather prettily back at him. There was something different, though… Harry realized suddenly that it was the carefree charm in which she held herself. 

Hermione, of course, knew both Ron and Harry were staring at her, and she was feeling quite uncomfortable. She shouldered her bag filled to the brim with books and grinned, hoping to recall them to the familiarity of their friend. "I hope you two were planning on getting aboard the train, because it looks as if they're about ready to leave…" she said quietly.

"Oh. Right." Harry grabbed his trunk and Hedwig's cage before snapping his fingers in Ron's face, for he was looking rather stiff and embarrassed as he watched Hermione step onto the train. Ron immediately jumped and pulled his trunk up the ramp leading to the train, glaring at Fred and George.

As soon as Ron had disappeared from view, Harry turned back to the twins to give them a last farewell, but suddenly his gaze passed the two of them and rested upon a young, dark-haired girl who was standing timidly, completely alone. Fred waved his hand goodbye as if to dismiss Harry, for the engineer was calling out, "All aboard!" but Harry quickly called, "Would you guys lift my stuff onto the train for me? Thanks!" The twins were left speechless as he quickly pushed past them to where the girl was standing.

"Hello," Harry said politely, smiling hesitantly. The girl was staring at the train apprehensively, but her eyes suddenly flicked to his face. He noticed that her eyes were the same shade as her hair, almost black, but a faint glimmer of light reflected off. Harry could not quite put a finger on it, but something about her eyes made her seem as though she was attempting to isolate herself—it was a rather eerie feeling he had.

"Hi," she muttered, eyes quietly studying his face. Harry could not help but notice that she was pretty in her own way, though he felt no attraction towards her. He felt himself wanting to ask if she was a relative of Cho Chang.

"My name is Harry--"

"Potter, I know," she finished for him, the smallest trace of a smile playing across her lips. "No, I don't need any help, but thank you," she said, as though reading his mind.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Well…I suppose you could help me carry my things onto the train." She paused. "Er, sorry, my name is Amilia Lindhardt. Pleased to meet you, Harry." Harry smiled as he held out a hand to take her trunk, which she handed to him before following him to the ramp. He stepped up into the train, but she paused for a moment. The train was whistling its last warnings and the crowd was already beginning to disperse.

"Is there something wrong?" Harry asked, quietly nagging in his mind for the girl to hurry aboard.

"No, I'm just…"

"…Afraid of trains?" Harry suggested quietly. Amilia nodded and almost looked abashed. "Don't worry, I'm afraid of plenty more." He shuddered when thoughts of dementors suddenly filled his mind. "But it's okay once you get over it. Come on, I'll help you." 

Harry held out his hand for her and she took it timidly, stepping up slowly after him. Amilia looked very pale in the face when they had finally clambered inside and the train began to move. She was clutching his hand rather tightly, and Harry struggled to gain her attention once more. "It's okay," he said, "this train is perfectly safe. Accidents have never happened…" He winced at the outright lie, thinking again of the time in his second year when the dementors had stopped the Hogwarts train in the midst of its voyage… 

But Amilia smiled anyway, looking reassured. "Thank you, Harry Potter," she said. 

"No problem." Harry smiled at her rather charmingly before disappearing into a compartment where Ron and Hermione were already waiting for him. Amilia quietly walked down the aisle, finding no empty compartments. Just when she was about to turn back to ask if she could sit with Harry, much to her dismay, a handsome young boy with sleeked blonde hair and a sly grin on his face stepped in the aisle, blocking her way.

"Making friends with Harry Potter, are you, newcomer? I don' t think it's such a good idea that you join Potter's crowd of Mudbloods and Weasleys. Say, you're a beauty--look like a natural Slytherin. The name's Draco Malfoy. Pleasure." 

He held out his hand for her to shake, which, to his surprise, she took; she had an oddly steely glare in her eyes, as though she were challenging him. Her composure had quickly changed from a timid awkwardness to composed confidence. Malfoy's eyes widened in surprise, taken aback.

"Amilia Lindhardt," she replied, "the pleasure is mine, Draco."

"Malfoy, please."

Amilia returned his sly grin and Malfoy beckoned with his head towards the compartment they were standing next to. "Join us?" Amilia looked in and saw two of the most ugly boys she had ever laid eyes upon. She raised an eyebrow at Malfoy and muttered, "Choosing your minions based upon sheer obedience…" With that, she sat down on the seat across from Crabbe and Goyle, and Malfoy sat next to her, finding himself wondering where the girl came from.

*****

"Harrrrry!" Harry turned to see a grinning Ginny running down the hall towards them. Ron began to smirk and Hermione merely continued up the stairs to the Gryffindor common room.

"Oh, hi Ginny," Harry replied, trying to sound as casual as possible. Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas went snickering past them as Ginny skidded to a halt in front of him. Harry couldn't help notice that Hermione wasn't the only one who had changed over the summer. Ginny was now just an inch shorter than he and her red hair framed her beaming face with curls. Harry gulped, hoping Ron didn't notice his face turning red.

Luckily, Ron merely grinned at his sister and then followed after Hermione, muttering, "I'll leave you two alone."

"Uh…" Harry felt his face growing red.

"Um…looking forward to the new school year? I heard we have to go through another semester of Divination with Professor Trelawney. But at least we have astronomy…it's my favorite subject. Say, did you hear about the ball we're having again this year? It's going to be greater than any other year…going to be a full-blown event, I suppose. Going with anybody yet? Would you like to go with me?" Ginny was talking rather quickly, and she was shuffling her feet nervously.

Harry struggled to absorb all she had said in the past ten seconds, then shrugged. "I suppose I'm looking forward to the new year despite Divination classes…astronomy's okay. No, I didn't hear about the ball, um, er, Ginny, I don't even know anything about it. But I suppose that once that time of the year rolls around…" He swallowed visibly, fighting in his mind what to say to Ginny. She certainly did look pretty, and he didn't think he could summon up the strength to ask Cho Chang to go with him again… But he still had his hopes. "Er, Ginny, no offense, but I don't even know if I'm going to go yet."

"What? Of course you have to! It's a school event--" She stopped, then bit her lip. "Oh…oh, okay. I get it. I suppose you wanted to go with Cho."

"What?!" Harry looked flustered. "No! I--listen, Ginny, that's five months away, and today's the first day and all, and I really don't know what's going on! Please!" 

Ginny sighed, looking embarrassed. She turned around and dashed down the hallway, leaving Harry standing on the top of the stairs, feeling rather bewildered. _Girls_, he thought to himself, then said, "Green leeks," to the painting of the Fat Lady. Harry stepped inside as the portrait swung aside with a merry calling, "Oh, hello, hello! How long has it been now? Six years?" before swinging shut once more.

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A/N: Just the beginning, I don't know where I'm taking it just yet. But please review! Email me at jidai_rinoa@hotmail.com. 

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all associated characters, places, and things are the property of J.K. Rowling, and no infringement is intended. 


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